Johnny VanDoorn, the 2009 CRA Super Series Champion will be heading to Pensacola, Florida with his Kaos Motorsports team for the 42nd annual Snowball Derby, considered by many as the Daytona 500 of short track racing. "We have been working hard at finding more sponsorship to make it to the derby and Jimmy TenBrink, our car owner said we were close enough to start getting ready to head south. We could use a little more sponsorship, but we are going to Pensacola" VanDoorn said.

TenBrink could not think of a better way to end his first year as a Champion car owner. "We had to find a way to make it to the Snowball Derby. It is the biggest race of the year for the type of cars we race and taking a look at the entries confirms that. The Derby will be a tough race to make-but if I did not think our team was ready for the challenge, we would be staying home" TenBrink said.

TenBrink and the Kaos team have spent the last few weeks making phone calls to potential new sponsors, calling in favors to family friends and seeing if current sponsors could help the Kaos team make the trip to Five Flags Speedway. "I have been wearing out my phone seeing if we can get the team the funding to head to the Derby. The economy in Michigan is one of the worst in the nation, but we are close enough to our goal that we can run the race" TenBrink said. And one of their backers for the Derby did not even want their name on the car. "We called a family friend from the Grand Rapids area that has helped us in the past. They were willing to help-but really did not want their name on the car, they like being anonymous. So as a team we thought about how to thank him for helping us out and we thought of the #26 Great Deals CRA team. They have helped out the guys on our team since 2007. Anytime our guys had a question or needed to borrow something, the #26 Great Deals team was there-just like our family friend. So we talked to Jim Mougeotte and he thought it was a great idea. So we will have Great Deals on the car as a "Thank You" to Jim Mougeotte , Rick and John Turner and the whole Great Deals team for their help and friendship over the past couple of years" TenBrink added.

VanDoorn’s #61 Chevy will also have a different look for the 42nd Snow Ball Derby. "Kurt Dietrich from Speed Media has been doing the graphics on Johnny’s car since 2006 and he said since you guys are going to the derby, lets do a special decal package. So we are turning Kurt loose and letting him design a new looking car for this special race" TenBrink said. "I have seen some early drafts, and when the final scheme is applied, it will definitely raise some eyebrows" TenBrink added.

VanDoorn himself is excited about the week as well. "This race is it. It has the best of the best drivers from across the country. NASCAR stars and weekend warriors will all be racing for the same goal: to be called the Snowball Champion. It will be a tough race to get into let alone win, but if we did not think we had a chance, we would stay home. Winning this race would be the perfect chapter to end our season" VanDoorn said.

The 42nd annual Snowball Derby will take place on December 6th with qualifying on Friday, December 4th.